The first one to arrive at the restaurant was actually Tao Jin. Thanks to the matter with the ‘Golden Spoon’ casting, she had been in the city anyway so when her husband messaged her, she figured that she might as well go over to have that meal although she was a bit worried about how it would turn out.

Things hadn’t been going too well with his sister recently and she knew that with the matters of the Si clan being involved in this, that probably wouldn’t get better anytime soon. But, well, she was happy that she was even able to help him a bit. There weren’t that often opportunities to do so.

Matters like sending that Weibo post the other day, taking part in the casting for them, or going out with him, his sister, and the members of the Si clan for this dinner were really the only things she could do. Otherwise, as an actress, how much was there she could offer?

In fact, she often felt that her identity was a bit troublesome. She had always hoped to keep her marriage as silent as possible so that he and the clan wouldn’t be bothered by the media but then, everything had come out the other day because of Fan Mei. Now, it wasn’t possible to go on like before any longer.

If they were unlucky, this might ruin his being part of the Si clan. After all, if there was always some kind of media outlet behind him, trying to get something on him or get him to expose something about her, then how would he be able to do his job for them? She really felt apologetic. If not for her identity, this wouldn’t have happened. If she had been just anyone, then nobody would’ve cared.

But it had already happened and she couldn’t change that anymore. She could only do her best to help him more going forward. Now, she finally had that kind of opportunity. Thus, she was in a good mood and arrived especially early, making sure that she wouldn’t make another blunder.

By the time she had been seated in one of the rooms that weren’t easily seen into from the outside, the next person already arrived. Maybe it was also because of her job but this guest was actually Fan Mei.

When she came in and saw that Tao Jin was the one sitting there instead of her brother, she couldn’t help but raise her brows. She still went over and sat down opposite her, giving her a long look. “What a surprise to see you here, sister-in-law.”

Tao Jin just smiled faintly, her expression looking especially kind even though she was seething inside. You could say that it was her job that had made possible what had happened the last time but at the end of the day, most of this had also been because Fan Mei just couldn’t keep her thoughts to herself. Did she really need to make this much of a fuss?

Well, she wasn’t about to put everything out in the open. Instead, she just pretended as if there was no problem at all. “What are you saying? Don’t tell me that Ah Ming forgot to tell you that I would come as well? In fact, he told me that a few of his friends would also be coming over. Don’t pretend to be surprised when they arrive later on!”

Her husband hadn’t said that outright but judging from the tone of his message, she was pretty sure that the two he would bring should be high-ranking members of the Si clan. In fact, she wouldn’t be surprised if she saw that elusive master himself today. It would be better to be a bit more polite.

Fan Mei gave her another probing look but couldn’t read anything from her expression. Darn acting ability! She had hoped she would finally be able to get some information. Still, she wasn’t done with trying yet. “Well, what kind of friends are they I wonder?”

Tao Jin gave a hum. “Well, I don’t know them that well but I think that he has worked with them before? At the very least, that should be how they met. Maybe it would be more accurate to call them his business partners but he didn’t say too much.”

In the Si clan, there was a story of how everyone knew each other. And there had indeed been business relations between her husband’s event agency and the companies of the Si clan in the past so if Fan Mei wanted to, she could check this story but she would only find this fact and nothing else. That could prove that she had said the truth but couldn’t expose anything. It really was the perfect explanation.

Fan Mei wasn’t happy with just that bit though. “Oh? What do they do for a living?”

Tao Jin’s smile seemed to widen a little. Clearly, her sister-in-law was trying to interrogate her about her husband’s friends. Even if these were normal friends, that would be quite impolite. “Oh, you know how it is: I don’t tell Ah Ming too much about my job and he doesn’t tell me too much about his. With the kind of people we work with, it is sometimes better to know less. If you want to know these things, you should better ask them yourself when they arrive here later.”

Fan Mei leaned back, giving her a smile as well. “You know what? I might just do that!” She definitely wasn’t the type of person that would hold back from asking a question just because it would make others uncomfortable. She also didn’t care too much whether the one being uncomfortable was the person being asked or the ones around. The fact that she had written a blog post about the secret crush of her brother’s friend in the first place probably showed as much. In her pursuit of truth, collateral damage wasn’t something that Fan Mei ever worried about.

At that time, Si Shi Qi finally managed to arrive at the restaurant as well. He parked the car and then rushed over to the entrance, hurriedly asking for the room that his wife and sister were in.

Tao Jin had already messaged him when she arrived so he knew that she was there but he hadn’t heard yet that Fan Mei had arrived as well since Tao Jin didn’t want to be too obvious with messaging him in front of her. If she sent a text, it might just make Fan Mei feel even more that there was some kind of secret conspiracy going on and she would try to dig further.

Thus, when Si Shi Qi was being led inside, he couldn’t help but be startled when he saw the two women sitting there, pretending to have a civilized conversation while there were clearly some sparks flying in the air. Ah, with this kind of family … it was hard not to wonder about the future.

When he and Tao Jin had children in the future, he would have a lot of trouble telling them about the Si clan. After all, a child was much more prone to giving something away before they understood the gravity of the situation. And his sister would use every opportunity she got to find out more. He didn’t doubt that she’d also involve his children if she had to. Thus, he’d have to be incredibly careful. Ah, it was moments like these where he envied the others who had a partner that was much more low-key. But in any case, right now, nothing could be changed about this.

He went over with a smile, also pretending that everything was alright, and sat down next to Tao Jin. “Hey, there!” He leaned over and gave Tao Jin a kiss on the cheek before reaching for her hand and then turned to his sister. His expression was less good when looking at her. “About what happened the other day, I will not say much if you leave the matter be. In any case, I really am disappointed but you are my sister after all. So I’d say let bygones be bygones. But please don’t do something like that in the future anymore or I might really not take you as my sister any longer. These people are both business partners, as well as friends. You can imagine just what it means for me if you do something like that.”

Fan Mei didn’t take his words to heart. Since he had already forgiven her for that, why would she need to be worried about the future? “So those friends from then should be the friends that will join us today as well, am I right?”

Si Shi Qi’s lips twitched. He was afraid that he already knew just what would happen. Well, to be honest, he was a bit curious to see how things would work out. In any case, his sister might have an inquisitive nature but what did his master have? Facial paralysis and an inability to articulate more than five words in a row. At the very least, that was him on a normal day. Si Shi Qi didn’t think that there would be much more talk happening over this dinner unless it was between him and his wife and maybe Si Yi even although he also wasn’t the type who liked to pointlessly chat. Well, this would certainly be interesting.

By this time, Si Yi and Si Jin had long reached the restaurant as well. But considering the situation that they were in, Si Yi had just driven around the block a few times to make sure that they would be the last ones to arrive. For one, that would make for a better entrance, and second, it would also seem less strange to Si Shi Qi’s sister. At the very least, that was what he hoped for.

Now, he figured that it should be about time so he went to park the car and then accompanied his master over to the entrance, and then to the room where the others were already sitting.

When the waiter opened the door for them, Si Jin just glanced at the people inside and gave a faint nod before going over to sit down.

Si Yi also nodded at everyone and then even gave a verbal greeting. “Good evening! Thank you for the invitation. I didn’t think we’d see each other so soon after the casting today.”

Fan Mei stared at the two of them and her eyes narrowed while her mind churned. Clearly, these were the two guys that she had seen at the casting today! They had been the ones who had been standing in the first row after her dish had been judged. She had thought that it was quite peculiar at the time but hadn’t paid them any heed because she hadn’t known who they were.

Now though, she felt that she had really missed a big clue there. Those were the guys that she had been trying to find out more about but she hadn’t been able to and instead run into some problems. How interesting! It seemed that this dinner would be even better than she had hoped for.

With just a few questions, she might be able to uncover the true story behind this whole matter with Bright Yellow Water. She didn’t believe that there was nothing to find there! As long as she held onto the clue she had found and followed this lead, she would certainly find out something that could be used to investigate further. It couldn’t be any other way.

It was just that in the current situation, she needed to be careful with how she approached this matter. After all, she was alone while the other side had four people. If she didn’t consider every step she took twice, her brother might just stop the whole dinner because of some kind of excuse, and then she would be left with nothing. She had to avoid that outcome at all costs!